


Promises Bound By Blood

by Ramabear (RyMagnatar)



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Drinking, Flashbacks, Grief/Mourning, M/M, Mentioned Sollux Captor/Aradia Megido/Feferi Peixes, Minor Character Death, Non-Linear Narrative, Offscreen Dismemberment, Offscreen Implied Torture, Offscreen Killing, Oral Sex, Rough Sex, college age
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-30
Updated: 2016-01-08
Packaged: 2018-05-10 12:41:04
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 14,441
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5585743
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RyMagnatar/pseuds/Ramabear
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dave turns up at the supply warehouse to begin his deliveries one night but the doors are locked and there's no one around. No matter, he's got a key and he knows where the inventory is to tell him where his shipments are headed. When he goes into the warehouse, though, he finds a bloody mess and in the center of it all is the last man that he expected. Eridan Ampora, his boyfriend, stands at the other end of a pistol and it's pointed at him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Level of Interest

In retrospect, the dark windows, closed loading dock and the locked door should have tipped Dave off that work wouldn’t be typical. But he had a key and it _was_ after seven at night so he had decided that most of the usual crowd of workers were off at home getting dinner or out to the bars they talked about and often invited him to join their drinking. He hadn’t gone with them, he was trying to save his money after all, but that didn’t stop them from inviting.

Dave had a key to the warehouse, and the code to the doors, given to him from Mr. Caligula himself, and he used them to get in. His deliveries wouldn’t load themselves up and take themselves out around the city.

Nudging the door shut behind himself, Dave frowned at the darkness inside. There was the faint glow of a light further in the filled warehouse, but nothing right near the door. Reaching into his pocket for his phone to use it as a flashlight, he made his way through slowly. There were voices, carrying through the otherwise quiet warehouse, but he couldn’t distinguish what was being said.

Turning the corner around a stack of boxes, Dave saw into the heart of the warehouse room. He opened his mouth to say something but the words he meant to say were drowned out by three successive shots.

The gunshots echoed against the walls and ceiling, bouncing back in the near silence.

Dave stared into the lit portion of the warehouse where three men were tied up in chairs, all turned towards two more men in the center. One of those two men knelt on the ground, head sagged forward, a red blossom of blood spreading across his belly, a ragged moan dragging  itself out of his throat. The other stood, his hand in the hair of the kneeling man, holding him up, with the other hand holding a gun pointed downwards to his belly.

When the echoes passed, Dave’s voice came back in a soft whisper of, “What the fuck.” His phone dropped from his numb fingers and clattered to the ground.

The man with the gun jerked his head up, his expression- pressed lips, narrowed eyes, furrowed brows- opening up into one of surprise.

Dave stared at him and, even with the blood splattered across his face, his clothes, his limbs, recognition struck him.

Eridan Ampora stared back at him. After one long silent moment between them, he lifted his gun up and pointed it to Dave.

* * *

The first time Dave met Eridan Ampora had been at the little apartment that Ampora shared with Karkat Vantas.

John had dragged him along to meet the ‘shouty little asshole’ that he’d described with a grin so broad that Dave was pretty sure that John’s head was about to split in half like a pez dispenser and shoot candy from his throat. Describing this to John had gotten him a laugh and the comment of “There’s worse shit to shoot from the throat, bro.”

Vantas  had opened the door only an inch when John’s hammering on it brought him to it. He hissed like a cat and then dragged it open the rest of the way. “What part of fuck off, Egbert, I’ve got a fucking hangover the size of the _moon_ to fucking deal with do you not understand?” His eyes, narrowed against the light and the sight of them, had swivelled to Dave. “And who the fuck is this asshole? Your buttbuddy?”

“Oh no John,” Dave said in his flattest tone, “He has discovered our greatest secret.”

John rolled his eyes at Dave and then turned and rolled them again at Vantas. “It’s only the size of the _moon_ , Karkat. Come on, you can’t have forgotten all abouting inviting us over for your special screening marathon movie shenanigans, have you?” He lifted his hand holding a plastic bag, “Besides, I brought ice cream.”

Vantas made a disgusted noise and stepped back, “Give up the ice cream and I won’t bite your head off.”

“Kinky,” Dave had to say with a smirk as John laughed and handed over the tub.

Vantas only shot him a glare before turning and shuffling deeper into his apartment. Dave followed John into the living room, attached to the kitchen, that had a massive couch, a pretty spectacular entertainment system and enough dvds to line the walls. “Someone hasn’t heard about netflix,” He said to John as his friend flopped down on the couch and took up a third with his arms and legs stretched out.

“Kar?”

That, Dave soon learned, was the voice of Eridan. He turned away from the closest stack of DVDs to look up into the doorway that lead farther into the apartment. The man that stood there looked so out of place in the shabby apartment filled with take out containers, stupid pillows and stacks of movies that Dave instantly had to wonder what his living space would look like, what _his_ room would look like. Probably just as tidy as that tucked in button down and narrow tie. Probably just as tightly held together as those grey slacks that clung _just right_ to his hips and thighs and grew loose around his calves and ankles.

He realized he was obviously staring when he brought his gaze back up to the man’s face and saw a slight frown and a narrowing of eyes. Dave reacted immediately. He tucked his thumb behind his belt, instinctively pulling out and down to show the bit of skin below his shirt and above his boxers and flashed the man a smirk. He added an arched eyebrow to complete the question; _Interested?_

“Eridan, you want some ice cream?” Vantas said from the kitchen. His head was buried in the cupboards as he dug out dishes.

“No.” Eridan turned his gaze from Dave and gave it to John briefly, “I want to know who these men are in my apartment.”

“John,” John said giving a lazy wave. He pulled at a pillow with one hand and adjusted it behind himself before giving a sigh and sinking deeper into the couch. “Karkat and I have a few classes together. Similar majors.” He tossed one of the smaller pillows at Dave, who caught it with one hand, “And this is Dave, my best friend of, oh, how many years now?”

“Thirteen,” Dave murmured. He had just caught the color of Eridan’s eyes. They were fucking purple. “And you are?” He gave another mercury quick smile to Eridan.

That got him attention again, which is absolutely what he wanted, and Eridan said, “Eridan. History major. Karkat’s roommate and friend since middle school. And also on my way to work.”

“Aw, what a shame,” John said with sincerity. “Movie marathons are way better in crowds.”

Eridan rolled his eyes, “You’ll hardly need my presence when you’ll have Kar’s running commentary on every fuckin’ detail of whatever shit media you decide to consume.”

“Hey!” Vantas shouted. He walked over to the couch with a bowl in each hand and one balanced in the crook of one arm. “We are not watching shit movies tonight. John’s here for some pure film artistry.” He shoved a bowl into John’s awaiting hands.

John snorted, but took the bowl and shoved a spoonful in his mouth. Dave watched Vantas stare at John while his best bro’s eyes fluttered shut and he gave a happy sigh around the spoonful of ice cream. He didn’t sigh at the flash of longing that Vantas gave only because that would have been un-Strider-like. Glancing up to Eridan, he saw his frown had grown deeper.

Shaking his head, Eridan said, “Fine. But keep the volume down. If Mrs. Deschand complains one more time about the volume of your fuckin’ movies, Kar, I’m givin’ the speakers to Cro.”

That brought Vantas’s head whipping around and he scowled. “You. Will. Not. He doesn’t deserve them. You know he doesn’t. He’d blow them out in a week.”

“They won’t be any fuckin’ use to us if our neighbors complaints get us kicked out of our place you fuckwad,” Eridan snapped back. He ran a hand through his hair and Dave let out a silent sigh. He would have liked to do that. Eridan’s hair, styled away from his face and with a peculiar and quite charming purple curl of hair, looked soft even with the product in it. Dave thought it looked long enough for a good handhold too.

Vantas and Eridan scowled at each other for a while. John, back from the world of ice cream inspired delight, looked from one to the other and then said, “Karkat, the ice cream is melting.”  

Vantas yelped and hurried over to Dave, handing him the ice cream bowl. Eridan must have decided that he was done with their conversation entirely and walked through the room to the kitchen. He rolled his eyes one more time at Vantas, sitting with his knees up to his chest next to John on the couch. Dave resisted the urge to shove his ass between the two of them- there was a few inches he could have made a good effort- and decided he’d settle on Vantas’s other side.

If Vantas wanted to throw himself at John in entirely too subtle ways for John to even be discomforted by, who was he to stop the idiot? He stretched out on the couch, one leg crossing over into Vantas’s personal space far enough to almost reach John and gave a smirk. Vantas glared at him, muttered, and picked up his remote. It turned out the asshole _did_ know about netflix because that’s where he turned the tv to after some button mashing.

Dave, ice cream bowl on the arm of the chair to eat out of one-handed, tucked his other hand behind his head and sighed. It looked like he was about to be twenty minutes into his own netflix and chill meme if Vantas could manage it.

“I’m headed out,” Eridan said from somewhere in kitchen. He had been rummaging through it for a while, maybe making some lunch for work or something Dave mused, but now it had gone quiet.

“Fuck off,” Vantas muttered into his ice cream.

“Drive safe!” John gave his customary smile along with his customary words.

Dave kept quiet. He felt a brush of fingertips along his arms and glanced back to look who had touched his arm. Eridan looked down at him, briefly, brows lifted and his violet eyes- and really there wasn’t any other word to describe that fucking color- saying silently; _quite interested._


	2. The Important Things

Eridan’s teeth weren’t sharp, but he could be pretty damn insistent with them. He bit and pulled Dave’s lower lip, demanding entrance into his mouth. Dave gave in and gave it. They were in the darkness, pressed against boxes stacked five high, and the world was quiet except for the sound of Eridan grunting into his mouth and his own muffled moans.

Dave’s hands moved over Eridan’s face, glanced over his shoulders, ran down his sides and settled on his hips. He pulled Eridan close, forgetting why he’d held him away, and opened his legs for Eridan’s firm thigh. He arched his hips into that leg while his tongue got sucked on and Dave forgot about the blood that he was getting on his clothes, off of Eridan’s clothes.

Sometimes, when he turned his head in a way that Eridan didn’t like, Dave felt the butt of the gun as Eridan’s arm, hooked around his neck, dragged him back around. It wasn’t pointed at him, though, and that was the important thing.

Well, one of the important things.

* * *

“We could really make this work,” John grinned at Dave as they walked to their usual lunch spot. “Especially if his neighbors are the ones that he was complaining about.”

Dave arched an eyebrow at this. “Are you really sure that you want to live in the same apartment as Vantas?” He caught sight of the table and lifted one hand in greeting to the others that sat there, eating already.

Sollux ignored them handily, but Aradia lifted her hand and waved back. John dropped his bag on the ground by the bench and settled down beside Aradia with a grin. “Karkat has awful neighbors, Aradia. I am so close to getting him to agree to move in with me and Dave in our future new place. I can practically taste it.”

“I keep telling him that’s a shit idea,” Dave said, sitting opposite John and next to Sollux. He got a nod when he gave one, but Sollux was focused more on his DS than the people around him. He had the remnants of some food in front of him but wasn’t eating anymore. “But he won’t listen to me.”

“Because it _isn’t_ a shit idea,” Aradia said with a roll to her eyes. She popped a grape into her mouth and then reached across the table and fed one to Sollux, who didn’t even blink. “Karkat would be a great addition to our party house. He’s got a great TV and a voice that will clear out anyone that we don’t want sticking around. What’s the problem with him moving in?”

“Are the rest of you blind or something?” Dave said, “Vantas has a massive gay boner for Captain Oblivious over here. Like, Christ, he spent half the movie marathon staring at you eating ice cream, John. Why the fuck do you think he let you have two more bowls after your first?”

John blinked and said, “Because we’re friends?”

Dave rubbed his hand over his forehead and sighed.

Aradia patted John on the shoulder. “You are friends, John. Dave’s just reading too much into it. That can happen when people are desperate themselves.”

“Oh my god,” Dave said, dropping his hand from his face. “I am not desperate. I’m just not blind. It’s so obvious. He didn’t think you were going to even bring me for the marathon, John. He thought it was going to be you and him alone.”

“But his roommate was there,” John pointed out, “What was his name… Eridan?”

“Ampora?” Sollux snorted. “He still hung up on Feferi?”

“He knows Feferi?” Aradia asked while Dave bit his lip to keep from saying, _he better not be_. “Oh wait, is he the other guy she’s writing to while she’s in Madrid or whatever?”

Sollux nodded “That’s the guy. They’ve been friends forever or something and she told me he kept trying to date her in highschool even though she knew that it wouldn’t work out or something. She just wasn’t into him that way.” He opened his mouth and Aradia popped another grape into it.

“Well anyway,” John said, “He was there too. He might have stayed if he didn’t have work.”

Dave, munching through his lunch, stared off into the distance. He ignored the conversation that meandered around him, thinking more about Eridan walking towards him, slowly loosening his tie and murmuring that he could be a _little_ late, if Dave made it worth his while.

“Yeah.” Dave mumbled to himself.

“See, Dave agrees.”

Dave blinked and looked over. “What?”

While he wasn’t paying attention, their fifth member had showed up. Rose sat on Aradia’s other side, sipping at her thermos and smiling. “So you think that John should extend the invitation to Karkat _and_ his roommate? I’m surprised, Dave. You never seemed so willing to share your space with so many strangers at once.”

Dave did some quick math in his head and said, “Where the hell are we going to find a four room apartment for any decent price?”

“Five rooms,” Aradia said, “I refuse to be kicked out. And Sollux will room with me. Six rooms would be the best, though.”

John sighed heavily. “Dave’s right. Were are we going to find an apartment like that?”

“We’re not.” Rose said simply. “We’ll find a house. With at least six rooms, two bathrooms if not two and a half, a decent yard, and maybe a garage. I would like a space to conduct my research somewhere separate of the rest of the house.”

“Now you’re joining us too?” John exclaimed. “How am I going to convince my dad that this is okay? You’re a girl!”

There was a full minute of silence as everyone else, including Sollux, looked up and stared at John. John turned red and finally crossed his arms over his chest and muttered, “Fine. Fine. A house. But how are we going to get a house? We don’t have the credit for that.”

“I do,” Rose said. “And if we can only rent then we can use the history Aradia has renting and that of Karkat and his roommate. If they’ve been renting long enough, it’ll work out fine.”

John looked from Rose to Dave, giving him a helpless look. Dave shrugged a shoulder and said, “If you want, I’ll ask the roommate. I think he likes me.”

Sollux snorted at this but didn’t say anything.


	3. Holding Back Reality

“Please,” Dave groaned. The sound was dragged out him with the same force that Eridan used to suck on his throat. His hips thrust upwards, this time against Eridan’s hand as it rubbed teasingly over his dick. _“Please.”_  

Eridan licked up from the newest mark and huffed into his ear. “You have to promise me something first.” His breath was hot and wet against Dave’s ear. His teeth dug into a lobe, around the stud that Dave wore, and pulled gently. Dave squirmed in his arms.

“What? What?” Dave panted out each word with his breath. His hands, clawing at Eridan’s back and hips and ass, couldn’t force him any closer. Eridan was _holding back_ and that was not to be tolerated. “What is it?”

“You have to promise to help me,” Eridan murmured. “Help me with the bodies.” He ran his fingers down over Dave’s cock again but then slid his hand back up to hold Dave’s hips back. “You can’t call the police. You have to promise to keep this secret and _help me_.”

Dave knew he shouldn’t promise that. At least, he thought that he shouldn’t. Maybe. He probably shouldn’t. Or maybe he shouldn’t _not_ promise it. If he didn’t promise it, wouldn’t Eridan just keep teasing him? Didn’t he want that, to be teased? No. No. He wanted more.

Whining, Dave nodded his head. “Yeah. Yeah. Promise. I’ll help. I’ll help. I won’t call. Please, Eridan, touch me.”

He only expected to feel Eridan’s hand curl around his cock for that, he really did. He didn’t expect Eridan’s teeth to go away from his neck. He didn’t expect the cold air against his skin as his pants were pulled open and down. He didn’t expect the warmth or the wetness of Eridan’s mouth. He buried his hands in Eridan’s hair- he had been _right_ it was the perfect length to grip- and moaned shamelessly.

Nothing mattered but Eridan on his knees and his mouth on Dave’s cock, nothing else in the whole world.

* * *

“Can you seriously shut up about this?”

After spending several long afternoons of movie watching at Vantas’s place, Dave thought he knew that voice pretty damn well. He was walking down the hallway, on his way to find John and meet up to study in the library, when he caught sight of his friend and the hapless Vantas talking near a classroom. It was a fairly empty hallway, Dave knew that their class had been out for at least five minutes, and knew, as well, that John would have approached Vantas with his hopeful Let’s Move In As Friends conversation.

Sighing, Dave was about to walk over to them and stop it before Vantas got much louder or John made an enemy out of a friend, but a hand on his arm stopped him. He looked up to see Eridan. The hand on his arm tightened and he tugged gently, urging Dave into the classroom he was waiting in, “Just let them talk for a moment more. Kar’s worked up his nerve and he’ll have to wind himself up for another month if we interrupt now.”

Dave, looking over Eridan quickly and liking the look of him today as much as he had before, nodded and followed him into the classroom. Eridan leaned against the wall once inside and Dave leaned against the last row of tables in the room. “You know,” Dave said with a quick smirk, “John wants me to ask if you want into the crazy party friend house that he’s trying to put together for next semester.”

Eridan’s eyes widened behind those dark hipster frames in such a cute way. “Me? You two know me even less than you know Kar. I don’t share a single class with either of you.”

“John figures a friend of a friend will be a friend too. It’s just his way.”

“And what do you think?” Eridan asked. He folded his arms over his chest as if preparing to not like the answer.

“I think it’d be way easier to seduce you if you’re living in the same house as I am.” Dave said honestly, “We’d spend more time around each other, at the very least, and maybe have to share a bathroom sometimes getting ready for work or school. Maybe end up sharing a few other things besides.”

Eridan’s eyebrows rose and he stood, silent, staring, for so long that Dave almost thought that Eridan _wasn’t_ interested in him after all.

But then Eridan ran a hand through his hair and nervously tugged at the scarf he wore loose around his throat. “Oh. I hadn’t… I didn’t think you’d be serious about that. I tend to get more flirtatious looks when I’m dressed for work and just thought it was one of those.”

“You’re still attractive, even in a t-shirt and scarf,” Dave shrugged with one shoulder. “It doesn’t matter what you’re wearing, I think, you still look like that.” He gestured with a hand to encompass Eridan’s whole body. “I’ll admit, part of the interest comes from wanting to see what you look like after I’ve pinned you against a wall for a while and got my hands on you. I have a feeling you’ll pull off royally dishevelled pretty damn well.”

Eridan stared at him. He slowly lowered his arms from where they folded tight against himself and said in a low tone, “Are you only interested in the fantasy of that sight? Or would you like some reality?”

Dave didn’t have to be asked twice.


	4. Really, Really Friendly

Sweaty and boneless, Dave slid down the crates as Eridan pulled support from him by taking his hands from his hips. He sucked in deep breaths, eyes closed, and held still. He needed a moment in his head, where his thoughts were coming back together after that orgasm, to put pieces of words and information back together to form a coherent thought let alone a sentence to speak. 

He eventually opened his eyes when he felt Eridan’s hands on him again. Eridan leaned close, tucking Dave’s cock back into his pants and zipping them shut. He glanced up to Dave’s face and licked his lips. “I’d have you return the favor but I need to take care of them, first, an’ this’ll help.” He patted his own crotch where Dave thought he saw Eridan’s unattended boner held down by those beautiful tight pants he wore.

Dave nodded. “After?”

Eridan’s eyes lit up at the question and he leaned in. He pressed tender kisses to Dave’s lips and around them as well. “Afterwards, we can do as much as you want. Or as I want, if that’s what you want.” He gave a little laugh and kissed harder. Dave kissed back but couldn’t move. 

Pulling back, Eridan surged to his feet. He had a gun in his hands. Dave didn’t remember him getting that out, but then he wasn’t sure Eridan had ever put it away, either. “Stay here,” Eridan murmured, running his fingers through Dave’s hair. “You don’t have to watch if you don’t want to. I’ll just need your help when I’m done.” He walked away, then, into the light.

In shadow, Dave leaned his head back and closed his eyes. The memory of his promise, of what he walked in on, wasn’t altogether fucked out of his brain- or sucked in this case- but it was distant still. He sighed and let himself stay relaxed, even when he heard Eridan’s voice rise in rough questioning again. 

He’d get answers from Eridan, he knew that, but for now he’d have to wait.

Dave yawned and let himself drowse.

* * *

John blinked slowly when Dave came up to him. He held books in his hands. He was restocking a shelf at work, but moved as though air had turned to molasses around him. Aradia stood farther down the shelves, putting books in place and arranging them idly. She glanced over at Dave and said, “He’s been like this all afternoon. Do you know why?”

Dave licked his lips. He hadn’t caught up to study with John after all. By the time he’d taken a break in making out with Eridan, his friend had absconded and there wasn’t any sign of Vantas either. He’d wasted the rest of the afternoon under a tree in a corner of the university gardens with his tongue tied up in Eridan’s mouth and only thought of John again when Eridan had left to go to work himself. 

“Not a clue,” Dave said with a shrug. “I came to bring him some dinner for his break.”

John put down the book he was holding and said to the air, “Karkat wants to date me.”

Dave stared at him. He realized that this stare wasn’t as effective as it could be so he lowered his glasses until John had the decency to blush and look down at his feet. “What part of ‘Vantas has a gay boner for you’ did you misunderstand about what I said before? You’ve been hanging out alone with him for what, a month? Studying and watching movies at his place and you keep asking him to move in with you, John.” Dave pushed his glasses back up and sighed. “John. Please. Tell me you had  _ some _ idea that he was interested in you.”

“Well, you said-” 

“Besides what Dave said,” Aradia came closer, smiling. “You have been spending a lot of time with him. And he’s been here a few times as well, huddled over his school books in the cafe when you’re working in the store.”

John fidgeted from foot to foot like he had to pee and then sighed, “No. I didn’t. I thought he was just being really friendly.”

“He took you to go see a private movie screening, John.”

Dave blinked. He hadn’t known  _ that _ . 

“He was really,  _ really  _ friendly?” John said hopefully. 

“Dating is very friendly,” Dave said, smirking at John’s even more furious blush. “Take it from someone who knows, John.”

“Like you’ve been on a date in months,” John muttered, hunching his shoulders. 

“As a matter of fact, I’ve got one later this week.” Dave said with glee. “What about you? Do you have a date or not?”

John bit his lip and then sighed so heavily his body seemed to sag from the expend air. “Yeah. I do. I mean. It’ll be like a regular hang out over at his place but… a different kind of movie and you’re not invited, Dave, sorry. I know you-” He stopped at Dave’s upraised hand. 

“If you’re going to apologize for making me miss one of your movie nights, don’t. I already said I have my own date to look forward to and I do. You two will be fine, or it will be so horribly awkward that you’ll never be able to look each other in the eye again. Either way, we’ll know if we can count on Vantas joining the big gay party house or not.”

John fiddled with the books on the shelf in front of him. Aradia gave him a pat on the shoulder and said, “Don’t worry, John. I’m sure things will turn out fine! And besides, we don’t need the house until next semester, so you have plenty of time to figure out if you’re going to be sharing a room with him or not!” She grinned as John floundered again. 

Dave rolled his eyes behind the safety of his shades. “Don’t stress about it, John, or you’ll really fuck it up. Now can you have your break or what? Don’t make me eat this by myself. You know I’m trying to maintain my girlish figure. Especially now that I’ve gotten a boyfriend.”

John perked up at the mention of food. “Be back soon, Aradia.” She waved him off with a smile and began to arrange books again. Dave backed out of the aisle and walked with John to the cafe. It took that long for his last sentence to sink in for John to sit back and look at him with a grin and ask, “So, Dave, you’ve got a date _and_ a boyfriend now? When did  _ that _ happen? And with whom?”

With a smug look that he didn’t even bother trying to stifle, Dave spilled the beans. 


	5. Experienced

Dave carefully kept breathing through his mouth only. Just because he _could_ smell the blood and gunpowder and other things in the air around the bodies didn’t mean he really wanted to. And he really, really didn’t want to. His hands shook as he held open the large plastic bags for Eridan.

Silently, Eridan placed the body parts, stripped of clothing and in unidentifiable pieces, into the bags. They were on the third one now, filling it up with parts in the warehouse, under the hanging lights above.

Finally, Dave had to whisper, “Why did you do this, Eridan?”

With no hesitation, not in picking up the arm and putting it in the bag or in answering, Eridan said, “These are the men responsible for murdering my father, my father’s guards and those who were with him the night of the fire. They thought they would get away with it, or would go to trial and be acquitted or put in jail for a little while. They thought they would get to keep their lives.”

There was silence for a while then, as Dave tied up the bag he held and started to get another one ready. They were double bagging the large black trash bags, of course. Eridan had calmly explained that it was the quickest way of carrying off a body. Dave didn’t question that. He had too much already to think about.

“Won’t you be caught for this? Won’t someone find out?” His voice didn’t shake like his hands did. Dave kept staring at Eridan, waiting to see him shaking, waiting to see him freak out like he had a few times before at school or on their rare dates. Eridan was slick with blood and he cared so much about his clothes, Dave couldn’t believe he wasn’t complaining about that, or grousing about _something_.

“I could be.” Eridan said softly. He moved smoothly, lifting a part, putting it in the bag. Sometimes he turned them over, looking for something. Dave didn’t know what until Eridan found a tattoo on one shoulder and cut it out of the flesh. He put it with the pile of clothes. Dave didn’t question that either. “If someone connects their disappearance to my father’s death and then me to their deaths because of course I would want vengeance. But I worked very hard on being utterly distraught and mentally broken because of his death. My acts of grief should be enough to discount the rationality of hunting them down and disposing of them this way.

“Other than that, you could tell someone that this happened. That way I could be caught.”

He said it with his back turned. He picked up a head and walked over to put it in the bag. He looked at Dave with those violet eyes deep as the river they were going to put the bags in. “If you do go to the police and tell them, I won’t be able to stop you.”

“Why not?” Dave asked, his voice so small it made him wince. He swallowed and asked more firmly, “You have a gun and… more experience with this than I do.”

But Eridan smiled at him and shook his head. He fetched the last of the body parts and said nothing.

* * *

It was chilly, but Dave didn’t mind, didn’t pull his jacket closer. His hand was warm in Eridan’s and he was listening to him talk about stars. Stars and myths and nonsense that Dave had had a brief interest in school before he grew out of any kind of religion entirely. Even the stars didn’t capture as much of his attention as they once did. They were sparkly in the sky and damn cool to look at, but he lived in the city where he saw a few brilliant ones, once in a while, if they were lucky.

But the way Eridan talked about the retrograde of Venus and the ties between the planet and the Roman goddess with a slight flush to his cheeks and his free hand gesturing back and forth in the air as if he needed to divide up the air to make a proper point, well, that was a sight he definitely enjoyed. They were finally inside, right at the door to Eridan’s apartment, that little shit one he shared with Vantas, when Dave finally got tired of listening and wanted Eridan to do something else with his mouth.

He got the quiet he wanted as soon as he stopped Eridan from unlocking the door by putting his hand over the keys Eridan held. Eridan blinked, looked at him and gave a tentative smile. Dave leaned in, smirking. “Enough about goddess of love, Eridan. Can’t I hear something about gods of love?” He looked at Eridan over his glasses, letting him see the way he looked Eridan over. “Or maybe see something?”

Eridan bit his bottom lip, something Dave would love to do for him, and murmured, “On our first date? You move pretty quick.”

Shrugging one shoulder, Dave whispered into his ear, “It can be like that afternoon we spent together, kissing until we’re breathless and panting and tangled in each other. Sure, I’d like to fuck you, but I mostly want to feel your body beneath mine.”

Cheeks pink, Eridan gave a pleasant gasp at Dave’s words and worried his bottom lip all the more. But he smiled, just a little, and murmured, “No sex tonight. Promise?”

“Promise,” Dave says without complaint. He lets go of the key in Eridan’s hand and let’s him unlock the door.

They walk in together, Dave utterly unwilling to let Eridan’s free hand go, to get too far, and already leaning in to kiss his jaw. Eridan has to walk into the room sideways because of it, delight flashing in his eyes as he catches Dave’s mouth in a kiss. Dave kicks the door shut behind himself, loving the way it slams and says, “Your room? Or the couch.”

That’s when he looks over Eridan’s shoulder and sees John and Vantas. They’re staring, eyes wide, jaws dropped. Dave snickers because he can’t help it, they look like they’ve never seen anyone kiss before in their damn lives.

Eridan sees them too and his blush deepens but he doesn’t pull away from Dave. He clears his throat and says in a voice too serious for the way his hand has found its way out of Dave’s grip and down to his back pocket, “I believe the couch is occupied. But my bed certainly isn’t.”

“Not yet,” Dave murmured into his ear. He grins at John as Eridan leads him past. They stare, silent, red faced, not even complaining as Eridan walks them past the tv screen and whatever movie they were watching. Eridan’s giggling by the time they reach his door, but that’s not quite satisfying enough for Dave.

Dave, pushing Eridan up against the door, bites as his neck and makes him moan loudly. Only when he hears the cursing from the living room, John or Vantas who knows which, does he smirk and let Eridan get the door open. He kicks that one shut too and follows Eridan to the bed.

They lose shoes and shirts and glasses, but nothing else. The heat between them takes ages to build from their kisses and their rolling and their wandering, curious, stroking hands. Eridan comes with Dave’s leg between his, his back arched and his head thrown back, gasping Dave’s name and fingers digging so hard into Dave’s skin they leave little crescent moons like the one that glows outside Eridan’s bedroom window. Dave comes with his mouth full of Eridan’s skin, his hands twisted in that dark hair of perfect length, legs clamped around Eridan’s thigh and sweat dripping from his back.

In the moments after, full of drowsiness, warmth and languid limbs, Dave kisses Eridan’s earlobe and tells him he’s far lovelier than any goddess of beauty. Eridan snorts and rolls his eyes, but his arms tighten around Dave as though he’s never heard, never believed those words before.


	6. Unidentifiable and Unresolved

The air over the water is clearer and cleaner than in the city. Dave sits in the back of the boat, legs stretched out in front of himself, arms folded tightly over his chest, and his head tilted back. The sun has dipped completely past the horizon. The lights around them are all manmade and flicker on the water’s surface. They come from distant street lamps, glowing squares of golden light from the buildings on shore and the bright white spotlights of the boats on the water.

The water itself is as inky black as the sky. The lights on its surface dance brighter than those of the stars.

“How far out are we going to go?” Dave asks quietly, feeling like he’s talking to himself. He’s not alone in the boat. And hell, he’s not really one for boats at all. He didn’t even know that Eridan owned one.

Rolling his head around so he could actually see Eridan, standing by the wheel and guiding the ship through the black waters, Dave admits to himself that he really doesn't know Eridan all that well.

“Far enough to access the deeper currents.” Eridan says, not turning around. His ship bobbs in the water, cutting through the slow, sleepy waves. The engine is a constant rumble of sound, but it’s got the same polished purr that Dave’s heard from high quality car engines. “That way the bags will be dragged along to where they won’t be found in time to be useful to anyone.”

Dave let his eyes drop down from the unwavering squareness of Eridan’s shoulders to the five plastic bags that sit on the boat between him and Eridan. “And then what do we do?”

The silence this time lasts longer than it took for them to get to the dock and load it up with bags, after Eridan had first explained where they were going to deposit the bodies. Finally, Eridan whispers, “Go home?”

Without really knowing why, Dave gets to his feet. He picks his way across the boat and goes up to Eridan, standing at his side. Looking at his body, still and straight and unwavering, Dave thought that Eridan was still that calm, mechanical thing that had butchered and sorted and bagged up corpses into things unidentifiable and unfindable. But Eridan’s eyes are wide as he stares forwards and they have red around their edges. His cheeks are wet and Dave knows that no water spray has gotten on his face.

“Yeah. We can go home.” Dave reaches out and puts his hand on Eridan’s shoulder. He gets a quick glance from Eridan, but then the other man looks back out to the water to watch where he’s going. “We’ll go home, take a shower and then go the fuck to sleep and deal with the rest of this in the morning.”

Eridan shudders, once, and nods. He says nothing again for a long, long time.

* * *

The table will only sit six of them. Dave realizes this as he walks towards it, his shoulder brushing against Eridan’s as he carries his books and Eridan’s books in his arms. Eridan has their lunches in his own hands, several tins of something hot and smelling fucking delicious. Karkat has joined the table recently because, as Dave understands it, John wants to be friends before he tries more than friends.

He glances to Eridan when he sees Eridan’s steps falter. Bumping shoulders together on purpose, Dave gets his attention and gives him a quick smirk. “Want to sit on my lap or should I sit on yours?”

Eridan rolls his eyes but his cheeks turn a little pink and Dave has to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from grinning. God, Eridan can be stupid adorable with just a look. Dave would think it unfair if he didn't like it so much. Instead, he leans in and murmurs teasingly, “You’re pretty cute when you blush like that, babe.”

_“Dave,”_ Eridan’s voice is heavy with exasperation and he shakes his head as if to say _What Do I Do With You?_ But he's smiling a little and that made it worthwhile. And he let Dave sit down first, putting their bag of food on the table.

John realizes at once what happened. “Oh no. Dave, I’ll get another chair for Eridan.” He pushes himself to his feet and then stops.

Eridan sits on Dave’s lap, turned so he’s not blocking the view, like he does it every damn day. Dave slides his arm around Eridan’s waist under the table and draws lazy circles with his fingers on his thigh. This earns him a quick glare, but then attention is diverted elsewhere as Eridan pulls the bag down around the aluminum containers.

He hands one off to Karkat, who takes it in his ever graceful way. “About fucking time, Eridan.” He put it on top of his books and flipped it open. Steam rose into the air and he licked his lips. “Thought it would be stone fucking cold too. Praise the risen lord there’s still a little heat trapped in there.”

Eridan rolled his eyes and opened up the other piece and pushed it aside, “Here’s yours, Dave.”

“Mm, looks good,” Dave gave him another little smile as he tucked into it. The contents of the tin of food was some sort of spicy noodle and vegetable combination and he dug in happily. He had to pull his arm from Eridan’s hip while he ate, to keep from making a mess of himself.

“Well,” Rose said from the other side of the table, on Karkat’s other side. “John was telling us that you had managed to, at long last, find yourself a boyfriend, Dave. But we were unaware that you had landed a whale.” Her eyes danced merrily over her thermos as she took a sip. “There was always this sense about you that a benefactor would be the best option to accommodate your particular sense of self. A sugar daddy, if you will.”

Dave was an old hand at Rose’s poking merriment, though. He slurped up a long noodle, licked his lips showily and turned to her and said, “He only let’s me call him Daddy in the bedroom, but I get plenty of sugar in plenty of places.”

There was a choking noise from Karkat, who had yet to master the art of not being surprised by Rose, and Dave felt Eridan go very still on his lap.

Rose studied Eridan in silence for a while as Aradia leaned forward and asked, “So does this mean that Eridan’s totally over Feferi?”

“Eh?” Eridan asked. “You guys know Fef?”

“Yeah!” Aradia said, “Sollux and I are sort of dating her. It’s weird since she’s out of the country with Jade, but she sends these massive letters all the time. She’s mentioned you before.”

“She’s mentioned you as well,” Eridan said. “But never said you went to the same college as I did.”

“Probably she didn’t want us to meet without her around,” Aradia said with a little shrug. “You know how she likes introducing people and seeing how they do with each other.”

Eridan nodded to this.

“Dave?” John asked suddenly, “I forgot to ask when I found out the other day, but does this-” he gestured to Eridan sitting on Dave’s lap “mean that you’ve convinced him to move into the house with the rest of us?”

“Ah yes.” Rose murmured, “The big gay party house presumably full of contraband such as alcohol and cake. Do we need to find one with yet another available room for our new compatriot?”

“I’m not moving in unless Karkat does,” Eridan said with a shrug. “He and I live together right now because we can share the rent and all the rest of it pretty evenly.”

“Eridan,” Karkat looked at him with such a wide-eyed, hopeless expression that Dave instinctively put his arm around Eridan’s waist and held him tight. Eridan was _his_ dammit. Karkat could go all doe eyes over John if that’s what he wanted, but Eridan was _off limits_.

Dave relaxed a little bit when Eridan leaned against him more. “You can’t afford the place we have on your own and you know it, Kar. I’m not going to leave you hanging onto the lease because you’d decide that you could survive on fuckin’ orange juice and oreos as long as you kept your fuckin’ netflix subscription.”

Karkat winced and lost that look, glaring instead. “You don’t have to be such a prick about it, Christ, Eridan.”

Eridan shrugged his shoulder and ate instead of replying.

“And Karkat won’t move in because…” Aradia said, leading the conversation away from the two bristly friends.

“Oh.” John blinked. “Because he’s got a crush on me and I gotta agree with Dave. I don’t think it’s nice to have him move in and then break his heart and make him miserable in the house with us. Or awkward or something because he has to be around me and whatever. So we’re going to find out if we can date and be in a relationship or if we should stay friends instead before we decide if he can move in.”

“You say _we_ like you’re making the fucking decision with me,” Karkat snapped. “I’m the one who’s making the decision.” His cheeks were red as he spoke, flushed from embarrassment. “And it’s not just a fucking crush.”

Eridan and Sollux snorted simultaneously, looked at each other for a second and then chose to ignore it. Rose watched with a smile. Dave rolled his eyes.

“Kar, just finish your goddamn lunch,” Eridan said, gesturing with his utensils, “You’re a bastard when you’ve not eaten and I know you skipped breakfast again so you could rewatch that damn movie for the fifth fucking time this week.”

“Shut up,” Karkat snapped as he shoveled more food into his mouth. He was still red and got even redder at Eridan’s smug look. “Asshole,” he muttered after a swallow, “You’ve only become more of one since you started hanging out with that prick, which is amazing considering how unfathomably awful you could be before him.”

“You two are the most interesting friends,” Aradia said brightly. “Don’t you think so, Rose?”

“There is undoubtedly a lot of unresolved tension between them. Indeed, a whole torrent of water is rushing under that bridge of their relationship and I don’t think either one of them has done anything to drain it but ignore it. That they have remained civil for so long is a surprise in and of itself.” She replied. “One would think that there were only two options for releasing that much pressure between two people, and it’s clear that one option has been blockaded by other factors.” She settled her gaze on Dave.

“What the fuck are you even talking about?” Karkat snapped.

“Kar,” Eridan said in a frosty tone. Karkat immediately shut his mouth and turned to glare at him sullenly. “Don’t push it.”

Karkat stuck out his chin and they glared at each other for a while before he muttered to himself under his breath and sat back. “Fuck it. Fine.”

Dave ran a soothing hand over Eridan’s leg and hip and back and, well, he just wanted to grope his pretty boyfrend under the table so he did. Eridan did relax after a while so Dave was able to pretend that he helped.

John cleared his throat noisily and then asked in a loud voice, “So. Anyone have any exciting plans this week?”


	7. Our Possessions

Eridan cried the whole way back home.

They sit in Dave’s truck together. Dave focused on the street, on his hand on the wheel, on the way that Eridan leaned against his side, his body trembling. Eridan’s breath is tiny wet sobs that pull themselves from his chest with so much force that he shakes from them. His arms are wrapped around himself. Dave’s arm is around his shoulder. Music plays so softly from the radio that the words are indistinguishable.

Eridan’s words are plenty distinguishable.

“I miss him.” He says when they’re inching forwards at the end of a long line at a red light. “I miss Dad so much.”

“He’s never coming back. I’m never going to see him again.” He whispers when they take a long, curving left turn.

“They shouldn’t have done that. Even if they hated him, hated what he did. They’re fuckin’ adults. They should have tried other things first.” He says as a light turns yellow and Dave guns it to go through anyway.

“I want my dad back. I know. I know I can’t have him. But Dave. I want him back.” He mutters when they finally pull to a stop outside the house. Dave parks on the street because the driveway is always full.

He turns off the car and they sit there for a while, together. “Do you want a drink?” Dave finally asks, “Because I really think I need a fucking drink.”

“I’m sorry,” Eridan says in reply. “I should have remembered to tell you not to come into the warehouse today. I forgot you didn’t get the information the same way as everyone else. I forgot you weren’t- aren’t- part of that world. It was just a job for you. I should have remembered. But I didn’t.”

“Yeah.” Dave mutters, “You should have. And I should have known that something different would happen at work because my boss and his fucking _henchmen_ got burnt alive in a building, like, a week ago. God. I am so fucking clueless.”

Eridan pulls away. He holds himself tightly, huddled in on himself. Dave lets him go until he hears Eridan speak. “I’m sorry. It’s my fault you didn’t know. It’s my fault you were ignorant. I told Dad- I told him I didn’t want you in that world. I told him I didn’t want you to be involved. I wanted to keep you separate from it so I could pretend that I was separate from it too, when I was with you.”

Dave puts his arm around Eridan’s shoulders. When Eridan tries to pull away, he drags him close with his other hand as well until Eridan has no choice but to be embraced. “Shut up. You can blame yourself later but right now we’re going to go inside and we’re going to shower together and I’m going to kiss you in the shower and then we’re going to get really drunk and then we’re probably going to give each other really terrible drunk blow jobs and pass out in bed or something and be late for everything tomorrow. Your dad was murdered last week. You got the guys who killed him tonight and I helped you get rid of the bodies. If we get caught, we’ll figure it out. If we don’t? Well, we’ll figure out a way to live with ourselves. Okay?”

Eridan shudders against him and then whispers, “Have you been taking psychology lessons from Rose because that was kind of terrifyingly exactly what I think I needed to hear.”

Dave snorts. “I’m just telling it how I see it. Any problems with that?”

“Just one,” Eridan pulls back slightly and gives a timid smile. “Instead of blowjobs, can you fuck me into the mattress instead? I think I really need that tonight.”

Dave lets out a long breath and then nods. “Yeah. We can’t get as drunk then, but whatever. I can do that.”

He manages to smile when Eridan kisses his cheek and manages, even more amazingly, to forget about the figurative and literal blood on Eridan’s hands as he takes them and leads him into the house.

* * *

The house is three floors tall, painted a bright lilac color and matches the other five houses around the cul-de-sac in design and saturated color. There’s one of each color of the rainbow, with white trimming, green lawns and a large garage.

John’s laughing as he comes bouncing out the front door and to the driveway where the moving van sits. The back is open already and Dave’s helping pull the ramps down to get the furniture out of the back more easily. Eridan’s with him, hopping up and looking at what’s there. It’s mostly his furniture, it turns out, that filled his and Karkat’s apartment. Dave only has a few things besides boxes that he’s brought, since he was leaving his Bro’s apartment and John situation is likewise.

“Dave! Eridan! You made it! We’ve just finished up cleaning everything! Are you guys ready?”

Dave gives him a high five and then turns to look at Eridan. Eridan smiles slightly, putting his phone in his pocket. “My dad said he could spare some guys helping us move in. All we have to do is make sure there’s pizza for them afterwards.”

“Are you sure we’re going to need the help?” John asked as he climbed up to the back of the truck. “It doesn’t look like this stuff is too heavy or crazy.”

“We can get the work done faster with more hands,” Eridan says, “Plus there’s Aradia’s stuff in her trailer we’ll have to get in. It’s two sets of stairs, John, we’re going to want the help.”

“Yeah,” Dave agrees, “Besides, I work with these guys. Lifting heavy boxes is what we shippers _do_.”

“Awesome. We’ll be moved in by the end of the day no problem!” John clapped his hands together, “Where do we start?”

The additional six lifters did indeed help when they arrived. With them, the couches were navigated up stairs, mattresses were hauled into bedrooms, wardrobes were lifted up flights and even Karkat’s entertainment system made it in all in one piece. There were people guiding and lifting and shifting. Everyone worked and while John was easily the most pleasant one of the bunch, Dave and Rose exchanged plenty of dry humor with the helping hands, Sollux’s complaining was done while he was actually working and Karkat’s fussiness was dimmed by the fact that he continually made sure people had enough water and didn’t pull their backs.

By the end, after the truck and trailer were emptied, several large pizzas consumed and the six men hopped back in their own truck and drove off to drink on their boss’s tab, the seven new tenants of the little lilac house were sprawled out on couches, chairs and the floor. The sun was just dipping along the horizon and the light came pouring in through the sliding glass doors. Dave, legs stretched out on the floor and his back resting against Eridan’s legs while Eridan sat in one of the available chairs, grinned as he felt Eridan’s fingers curl through his hair and rub behind an ear. He rolled his head, looking up at him.

“Hey.” He murmured, keeping his voice down. Karkat was having his first argument with Sollux about what their First Movie Together As A House should be.

Eridan gave him one of those private smiles that made Dave’s heart jump. It did so now and he had to reach up and run his hand over Eridan’s knee. Eridan replied just as quietly, “You know, I’m sure we’ve already seen whatever movie they’re going to pick. Want to christen the house a different way?”

Dave licks his lips. “I was wondering why you pulled out the sheets for your bed earlier. But I thought it was just so you could get to bed quicker tonight.”

“Well I do want to go to bed pretty quick,” Eridan said. “Like. Right now.”

Dave got to his feet, slowly, stretching out his back. Karkat was in full swing now and had most of everyone’s attention. Yet, he still caught Rose’s eye as he took Eridan’s hand and pulled him up from his chair. He gave her a wink as he walked with Eridan to the stairs. Eridan followed right behind him. His breath was warm on Dave’s ear as he murmured, “You know, it’s all right to call it _our_ bed. Considering it is _our_ room.”

At the top of the stairs, out of sight at the others, Dave pauses long enough to draw Eridan down into a kiss and then says against his lips, “Really? I figured you were too possessive to share,” He teased with a little trail of kisses along Eridan’s jaw. “ _Your_ bed. _Your_ room. _Your_ boyfriend.”

Eridan wrapped his arms around Dave’s waist and dragged him close. “When you put it that way, I can see your point. Come on then. I want to see what belongs to me.”

Dave grinned as he let Eridan pull him into their room and lock the door behind them.


	8. Divine Punishment

The house smells like curry and the laughter bounces down the stairs to the front door. Dave stops just inside and looks at Eridan. He’s not crying anymore, which is a bonus, but he’s shaking, badly, and looks way too damn pale. Dave reaches out to him, not knowing what to say, but relieved when Eridan curls under his arm and holds onto his shirt. “I got you,” Dave manages, kissing his temple. “Trust me.”

Eridan nods and mutters that of _course_ he trusts Dave. He trusts Dave with everything.

Dave ostensibly doesn’t think about the blood that he helped Eridan get off his face with a washcloth and doesn’t think about the gun that’s still tucked in Eridan’s waistband, safety on and hidden under his jacket. He instead leads him up the stairs to the main floor where all the action is.

Aradia’s in the kitchen with some friend of hers, with hair so long and eyes so blue and a mouth in a sneer as she gestures and tells some story. The knife she has in her hand flashes in the light. Dave makes himself look away from it. Aradia looks over at them as they show up, her smile fading as she sees Eridan. Her friend looks, opens her mouth to say something and gets an elbow to the rib. Aradia glares at her and hisses, “His _dad_ just died, Vriska. You keep your mouth _shut_.”

Eridan flinches. Dave murmurs wordlessly to him and goes for the freezer where Rose keeps her vodka. He pulls it out and decides against any mixers. That would just take longer.

Eridan clings to his hand as he walks through the living room. There’s no movie on this time, but a video game. Mario Kart, Dave gathers at a glance, with John in the lead and crowing about it, Karkat snarling his rage at the game and Sollux playing with his tongue between his lips. They’ve got some other friend over, a brown eyed guy frowning at the screen but who looks up when he sees Dave and Eridan and blinks a little in surprise. Dave thinks he might recognize him from one of his digital science classes, but he doesn’t care.

Instead, he picks his way over the cords from console to TV and inspires a series of annoyed shouting from the intrusion. He flips off the lot of them and nearly makes it to the stairs before Rose interjects.

“Dave, is that my vodka?”

She’s sharing the big armchair with a girl so tall and so pretty that she could be a model off of one of those runway shows Dave watches sometimes with Rose. She’s knitting something that drapes over her knees and the other woman is holding out her yarn. The yarn is red as dried blood and Dave bites his cheek to keep calm. “Yeah. I’ll buy you a refill later.”

“That bottle is three quarters full.” She said, her tone just light enough to not be scathing.

Dave gestures to Eridan with the bottle in his hand and says, “You telling me he doesn’t look like he needs it?”

She turns that gaze of hers on Eridan and purses her lips. She sets aside her needles. “He looks like he needs to go to the hospital, actually. He looks sick. Eridan?”

Eridan jerks. His head goes up and then down. His arm flinches backwards, towards that hidden gun and Dave can’t help himself. He tugs the hand that he’s holding, gets Eridan off balance and leans into his face. “Calm down. I’m here. I’m not going anywhere. Okay? Remember what I said? Shower. Drinking. Fucking. That’s what I promised you.”

Eridan’s thankfully still empty hand reaches up and grabs the front of Dave’s red shirt. There are spots on it that are darker red but he doesn’t think anyone can see those. They changed Eridan’s clothes but not his. “That’s not all you promised me.” His words are a breath against Dave’s skin. His eyes are dark with something that looks a lot like pain and fear.

There’s quiet in the room. People are staring at them now. The game is paused on the TV and no one is complaining, no one is speaking. Dave slings his arm around Eridan’s shoulders, the one with the hand holding the vodka, and brings him in. When he kisses him, he bites Eridan’s lip so hard that it bleeds and Eridan sags against him.

“Woah dude!” John’s voice is distant, annoying sound. Dave ignores him and draws back from the kiss when his own mouth hurts from Eridan’s teeth.

“Yeah. I promised more.” He says under his breath, pulling Eridan to the stairs again. There’s chatter beyond them but he doesn’t listen to it. From the way Eridan’s eyes devour him, he doesn’t think he hears it either. “I keep my promises. Come on. I’m filthy and I want to get cleaned up.”

The stairs pass by under their feet. The bathroom down the hall from their room is empty, though not for long. Eridan starts drinking as Dave starts stripping them both. The hot water steams up the room and the cold vodka burns their throats. Eridan starts crying again, somewhere in the middle of it all, and there’s a pounding on the door with someone asking if they’re all right. Dave kisses away the tears and swears at the questioner until they’re alone again. The water runs red around them, taking the blood that had been under their clothes, in Eridan’s hair, under their nails, and washing it away.

Dave’s giddy with drink and lightheaded when they get out but he doesn’t forget their clothes, the gun, or to make sure no blood is left behind. Eridan scrubs at his skin with a towel so long he leaves his skin red and raw from it. They take the towels too, because the fear of leaving blood behind is too great for Dave to ignore.

In their bedroom, behind a locked door and under the dim light of a single lamp, Dave finally stops the flow of alcohol by twisting the cap on it and rolling it out of reach of the bed. Eridan turns his grasping hands for the bottle into ones that grasp for Dave instead. He sprawls out on the bed, eyes bright, face flushed and chest heaving with breaths that shudder through him.

Dave lies on him, kissing him, keeping him pinned until Eridan squirms and asks, with a series of huffing breaths, for _moremoremorepleaseDave_. When Dave comes back from the edge of the bed where the lube waits, Eridan’s rolled onto his stomach and spread his legs for him. He’s half up on his knees, braced with his elbows on the mattress and hands on the headboard. He pushes back when Dave works his fingers into him and demands only more with drunken vulgarity.

Dave knows how long it usually takes for Eridan to get ready. He’s done it so many times he could count the seconds under his breath and know just when to go from one to two to three fingers, but tonight is hardly usual. Eridan wants everything now, everything instantly, and that includes the pain as well as the pleasure.

It’s with fingers digging into Eridan’s hips so hard that he knows they’ll bruise that he shoves himself in. He doesn’t even get enough time to adjust because Eridan’s wriggling underneath him, moving his hips when Dave isn’t. Grunting, Dave shoves him hard enough for Eridan to fall flat.

There’s a brief scrambling for pillows, to get Eridan’s hips up high enough to continue, and then Dave is throwing himself into it with the intensity of a natural disaster. He swears and snarls above Eridan like that, thinking of himself as something inevitable, something that will forever scar and marr Eridan the same way that Eridan has changed him forever. His fingers dig in. His nails scratch like the claws of a beast. He pushes, pulls and slams himself into Eridan without a thought to mercy or the moment after.

Eridan writhes beneath him, never lying still, never silent. His voice is harsh and loud, screaming filth that’s broken up only by a gasping need for breath or when a groan forces its way out of his throat. He rocks back into every thrust. His hands tear at the blankets, the pillows, sometimes reaching back and pulling on Dave’s arms with nails that dig in and leave lines of blood behind.

When Dave can understand Eridan’s words, they’re always a demand for more punishment, for harder thrusts, for biting and blood. Eridan’s begging comes out in those sharp commands for Dave to _fuck me like you mean it,_ to _go harder dammit I’m not broken yet_ , to _destroy me, please, ruin me_. What Dave can hear, he does his best to obey.

He knows the instant Eridan goes over the edge and into his orgasm because he’s screaming and clenching and his breath is spent all on Dave’s name. Dave rolls his hips through that and then manages a half dozen more of thrusting on his own until he comes, crouched over Eridan, snarling at him wordlessly with his fingers digging into Eridan’s ribs as if they’re seeking a direct passage to his lungs.

Spent, he collapses on top of Eridan, still inside of him, and pants against his skin. Eridan shifts slightly, catches his breath a little better and lets out a long sigh. One hand reaches back and tangles in Dave’s hair with the kind of slowness reserved for sleepiness. Dave shifts and kisses his neck.

“Don’t leave me,” Eridan says, his mouth pressed against the pillow, his words muffled. “Promise me that.”

“You make me promise a lot of things,” Dave mumbled back. “Not to talk. Not to leave. Next you’ll make me promise not to die.”

“Don’t die.” And Eridan’s breath catches like a sob in the middle. He’s moving, trying to turn over but Dave grunts and refuses to let him. “Dave, _please_.”

“Shut up. I’m going to make _you_ promise me something.” Dave feels a chill across his back where his sweat is cooling. He reaches out for a sheet and finds the edge of it. It curls under his fingers and he tugs it closer. “Promise you’ll only ever need me. I don’t think I could stand it if I found out you got someone else to help you with those bodies or getting home or with fucking you like this.”

“Dave,” he says the name with enough emotion to make goosebumps rise on Dave's skin. “I promise. I will never leave you. I will only ever love you. I will only ever need you.”

Dave breaths in. He breathes out. He closes his eyes tightly and shifts so he’s not completely on top of Eridan. Eridan moves with him and when Dave feels that he’s still buried cock deep inside of him, he knows why Eridan did that. He keeps an arm around Eridan’s waist and mutters against his skin, “Then I promise to never leave you. I can’t, not if you need me to live.”

Eridan clutches at his hands. He presses back against Dave and whispers, “I love you. I promise.”

Dave kisses behind his ear and whispers against his skin. “Love you too.”

* * *

Rose was the one who said that everything was too perfect. She mused about it once, over tea and a study session in the kitchen.

Dave was ignoring her from where he was sprawled on the couch because Eridan was at work and was sexting him and that was infinitely more important than anything she had to say. She was talking to Aradia anyway. And that tall woman she’d met after moving into the party house with the rest of them.

She said there was something too perfect about their lives. Something had to break somewhere along the chain because the world just couldn’t let well enough alone. God was like that, she said, he just stuck his fingers in shit and twirled it around to see what would happen.

It was a week later that the restaurant burnt down with Eridan’s dad inside of it.


	9. Intervening Jealousy

The rest of the household want answers in the morning. Dave stumbles into the kitchen with a hangover the size of fucking Jupiter and is aiming for juice or water or something that’ll help and ends up sitting at the table without remembering exactly who pushed him into the chair. John and Rose are leading the council, with Karkat hovering by John’s shoulder and Aradia and Sollux in the background. The only one missing is Eridan, who is still asleep upstairs.

Dave wonders if this’ll take long. He doesn’t want to be gone when Eridan wakes up.

He sips the orange juice that John has given him and eyes his friends. “Yeah?” He asks when they look like they’re trying to decide who goes first between them. “What is it?”

“We’re worried about you and Eridan.” John goes in with a smile. “We know he’s been struggling with his dad’s death. Karkat says his dad had a lot of businesses and so Eridan’s had some time off of school and his job to deal with that, but from what we heard last night…” he looks a little green, under the worry, “It sounds like the way you’re helping him with his grief is only hurting him more.”

“Look,” Dave says through clenched teeth. “You don’t understand what he’s going through. It’s not just his dead dad but other shit, okay? I can help him with it and this- what we did last night- that helped him.”

“We’re worried he might just replace the emotional hole of his father with you,” Rose said, leaning in now. She held a mug in her hands. Steam rose from it and Dave could smell it was something orange scented. What was with the fucking oranges this morning? “He worked closely with his father, from what Karkat has told us, and hasn’t had many close relationships beyond the man and Feferi. Even the one he has with Karkat has some distance. Karkat doesn’t know what his job is, for example.”

Karkat scowls behind them but other than hunching his shoulders, he says nothing.

“And?” Dave asked slowly.

They exchange looks and Dave feels his stomach flip at the sight of it.

“Look,” He said, sitting forward. “He’s a fucking adult. So am I. Right now the grief is pretty intense. He went through some-- We both went through some shit last night and really we needed to do what we did. Okay? It’s-- It made us feel, made me feel, I don’t know how to explain it, but fucking alive, okay?” Dave ran a hand through his hair. His head still hurts so damn much but now other parts of him are beginning to hurt too. “It’s not going to always be this intense.” He says that but it feels a bit like a lie. Sure, they  might not fuck like they’re in the middle of a storm with nothing to hold onto but each other, but he needed Eridan to need only him and Eridan needed Dave to never abandon him. It wasn’t- There were only a few ways that something like this could go.

He opens his mouth to say something more but they’re staring past him.

It’s Sollux who says what the rest are thinking. His mouth hanging open as he says, “Holy fucking shit.”

Dave twists around and sees Eridan.

Eridan standing wearing only pajama bottoms --Dave’s own, he realizes from the way they pull too tight across his hip bones-- and looks like he got in a fight with a handful of raccoons and lost. He’s scratched to hell along his sides and a couple of places on his chest and his shoulders are riddled with marks that echo the soreness in Dave’s overworked jaw muscles. The pants he wears are too low to cover the already purple bruises from Dave’s fingers, making him look like he was manhandled by handfuls of people other than Dave alone. The others must be staring at his body but Dave sees what’s in his hand and lurches up to his feet in a moment. “Eridan?”

Limping slightly, Eridan crosses the room and comes up to him. His hands move quickly, popping the magazine from the pistol. He pulls the slide as well, ejecting the unused but loaded bullet in the gun itself. He puts that bullet in the magazine and holds out both to Dave. “I need you to put these somewhere I can’t get to them, okay?”

Dave takes them immediately. He shoves the magazine into his pocket and the gun into his waistband. Then he holds Eridan’s face in his hands and said, “Thank you.”

Eridan closes his eyes and looks so dead tired that Dave’s heart aches. “I’ve got a fuckin’ massive hangover,” he muttered, “What’s goin’ on down here?”

“They’re holding an intervention,” Dave says with a little grin, pulling Eridan into the kitchen. He pushes him down into the seat he just left and urges the orange juice towards him. “They think we have too much sex. They want us to go to sex addicts anonymous.”

“If we go to the same meetings,” Eridan muttered, “It won’t be anonymous. And it won’t stop the sex.”

“Dave,” Rose tries for a serious tone, tries to wrest control of the conversation, but Aradia steps forwards.

Her eyes are gentle as she leans against the table and says to Eridan, “If you need anything at all, Eridan, to help you through this. If it’s a ride somewhere or some booze or someone to bitch to or to help you with paperwork or lawyers or _anything_ , you can talk to us. Okay? It’s not just Dave who cares about you. We all do. In our own ways.” She shoots Rose a look, “Right Rose? That’s what you were going to say?”

For once, Rose sits back. She purses her lips and nods.

Karkat hurries around the table then, eyes brimming with tears. Dave rolls his eyes as the guy flings himself at Eridan and berates him for hiding up in his room and running around and drinking and having the gall to turn to _Strider_ of all people. Eridan pats Karkat’s head for a while, not really looking at his friend who is shaking him by the shoulders, and lets him rant.

The others step out of the room, one by one. John’s the last, frowning at Dave a little and then, leaning in to whisper, “Is he… is he going to be okay?”

The weight of the gun is heavy against his side, but Dave nods. “Yeah. He’s just still a little fragile. Uh. Emotionally fragile. He’ll be back to his regular arrogant smug self in no time. I swear.”

John smiles and leaves then. Dave goes to get himself some juice to drink while Karkat babbles and Eridan watches him, eyes half open and mouth in a small, almost bitter smile.

* * *

Dave hadn’t ever been to a funeral before.

The collar of the white shirt he’d borrowed from John scratched at his throat and it didn’t fit quite right on his shoulders. He hated that his _clothes_ were what he kept thinking about and not, well, everything else but they were uncomfortable. He didn’t understand how Eridan could get dressed in clothes like these every day. At least he was able to wear his own shoes, figuring no one would notice them, because no one would notice _him_.

There were a lot of people at the funeral. He’d never realized how well known his boss, Mr. Caligula- whose name turned out to be Leoric Ampora, actually- really was. There were all sorts of people there, dressed in black and holding flowers to put on his grave. Women and men and children with their parents. There were even some cops in uniform, standing off to one side with their hands held tight together in front of them and watching everything somberly.

Dave stood with John and Rose and the others of the Lilac House. Karkat stood with Eridan because Karkat was the one that Eridan had turned to when he found out the news. Feferi was still out of the country. Eridan’s cousin Cronus had enlisted a few months ago and was in training.

It was _stupid_ , he knew, to feel jealous over the way Eridan held onto Karkat. Karkat was his best friend. They’d known each other for years. Dave had just met Eridan a few months ago. They were dating, even dating exclusively, but they were still figuring each other out.

John put his hand on Dave’s shoulder and squeezed down. His eyes were full of sorrow or grief or something. Dave was half-certain that John was thinking about his grandmother’s funeral, or his mother’s funeral, or both.

In fact, out of all of them, Dave was the only one who had never been to a funeral. His parents had died when he was too young to remember if he went or not. And Bro had never mentioned, never taken him to a grave. They just didn’t exist, as far as Dave was concerned.

Dave tried to imagine what it was like. He watched Eridan, sitting in a chair near the open grave as the priest said something about lives lived to the fullest, as Eridan leaned against Karkat. He could tell from the shaking of Eridan’s shoulders that he was crying. That was something he’d learned after the first day. Sometimes Eridan tried to hide it, sometimes he didn’t, but when his shoulders moved that way, Dave knew he was crying.

Karkat had his arms around him. He was touching his hair, his shoulder, wasn’t _saying_ anything, but he was giving Eridan comfort.

Dave twisted his hands into fists and tried to think about the scratching fabric at his throat instead. Anything was better than feeling jealous of your boyfriend’s best friend at your boyfriend’s father’s fucking _funeral_. Dave’s stomach churned in disgust at himself.

It was fine. It was _fine_ that Eridan didn’t turn to him for all his comfort.

It was _absolutely normal and fine_.

He. Was. Not. Jealous.

Dave repeated this lie to himself as many times as he could stand.

He never could believe it.


	10. Epilogue

“You’re so fucking lucky, you son of a bitch,” John says with an envy so clear that makes Dave look up at him, “I still can’t believe Eridan talked his boss into letting you work for him too. You have even less work experience than I do!”

“Oh yes, because two consecutive jobs spanning seven years is _less_ experience than your six jobs in the same amount of time?” Dave says with an arched eyebrow as he fiddles with the sleeve of his new jacket. It’s a matte black leather, eating up light instead of reflecting it and it fits him like it was tailored for his broad shoulders and narrow chest. Of course it _is_ tailored for him, like the rest of his new work clothes, but he hasn’t told John that. “It just proves I’m more dependable than you are.”

John sighs and continues his slow slide over the arm of the couch. He’s half on the floor already and Dave rolls his eyes at his friend. They’ve been living together for almost two years now and sometimes it didn’t feel like John was any older than before. He’d adopted Karkat’s ability to complain about _literally anything_ but that was no sign of growing maturity.

Dave catches an unexpected motion in the corner of his eye and turns quickly, heart leaping. His muscles relax, though, because it’s just Feferi coming down the stairs. She wears a long baggy shirt that most likely doesn’t belong to her and not much else. While this gets John’s attentive stare, Dave just nods to her and fiddles with the interior pockets of his coat. He doesn’t want to forget anything, after all.

“Any dinner?” Feferi asks, scratching at her long hair with one hand.

“Eridan’s bringing some home with him when he comes to get me,” Dave replies.

She gives him one of her tired but brilliant smiles and goes to pour herself something to drink. Dave catches John staring at her ass and he rolls his eyes. “Dream on, John.”

His friend flushes and jerks his head away. “Yeah well, not all of us are in the perfect relationship, _Dave_.” There’s that whining in his voice and Dave has to look away so he doesn’t pull a sneer on his friend. That is something Eridan would do, something Dave’s picked up from Eridan, but he knows better than to show it to John. Their friendship has its bad days often enough without him making them worse.

The front door opens below and Eridan’s voice calls up, “Dave?”

“Up here, babe,” Dave calls back, licking his lips. His heart jumps again, but in the best way.

Eridan comes up the stairs, balancing a brown bag in one arm. He leans in to kiss Dave lightly, who’s waiting near the top, and Dave sighs into his mouth. “Mm, cinnamon gum?”

Eridan winks in reply and goes into the kitchen area. He puts the bag on the table. “Hey Fef. Sleep well? How was your test?”

“Good and good.” She puts her arms around him in a hug that Dave isn’t jealous of but that he sees John narrow his eyes at. Eridan kisses the top of her head.

“There’s a meal in their with your name on it.” He pulls free and brushes her hair from her face. “Can you tell the others there’s food?”

“Sure I can!” She beams. She’s unloading the bag already, humming and arranging it on the table. “John, there’s one here for you too!”

John gets up from the floor where he’d just slipped down onto and comes shuffling into the room. “Yeah? What’ve we got?”

Eridan leaves the kitchen to them and goes back to Dave. He gives him another, longer kiss, now that their potential audience is occupied. “Ready to go?”

Dave nips at his lips and murmurs, “Sure am. Anything fun tonight or just another round of meetings?”

Eridan draws back, eyes glinting, “A meeting with the rest of the guys and then a _lot_ of fun. Smoke, mirrors, fire and a couple bangs. You know. Shit like that.”

“Mmm,” Dave licks his lips. “Let’s go, yeah?”

He heads down the stairs first, swaying his hips for Eridan's viewing benefit. They get outside together and trot out to the car with the tinted windows and the man in the suit waiting beside it. The man opens the back seat for them and they slide in the back.

Eridan tucks himself under Dave’s arm with ease in the back of the car and leans against his side. He shifts his arm a little when it presses too hard into the holster at Dave’s ribs and then settles again when they’re both comfortable. Dave trails his fingers through Eridan’s hair and says, “Since Rose moved on, that place has really fucking declined.”

Eridan’s hand is on his thigh, trailing circles with his fingertips. “The new renters are noisy little fucks too. Playing their goddamn music so loud it makes the walls vibrate.”

Dave sighs and says, “I hate to do this to John but…”

“I’ve already been looking at other places,” Eridan murmured. “Closer to work, now that you’ve graduated. Or in some of the nicer places near where you used to live, if you want to be near Bro again but not living with him. Or even still near the university if you want to go in for graduate courses. We don’t need to stay at that house unless you want to.” Eridan shifts and Dave feels his breath on his neck. He shivers as goosebumps rise on his skin. “Do you want to?”

They pass out of the neighborhood and start heading down the streets of the city before Dave replies with a little shake of his head. “No. I don’t want to.” Dave tightens his grip around Eridan’s shoulder’s and says, “I don’t need to.”


End file.
